Before I start with the review of Everything Touching, I’m declaring a vested interest. I’ve had an eye on Falmouth three-piece Tall Ships for a good long while, having first seen them supporting Tubelord in what could kindly be described as a converted living room on the second floor of a central Nottingham terraced house back in 2009. It’s rare that an unknown support entertains comparably with the headline act at a gig, but these charmers armed with golden filigree guitar lines, swirling synths, hip-swinging bass lines and those loop pedals did just that. I was impressed to a merch-purchasing degree. A year later I went to my first gig in London, which just happened to be Tubelord, again supported by Tall Ships. They were busy touting their second EP, ‘There Is Nothing But Chemistry Here’, which happily turned out to be as good – if not better – than their debut effort. Indeed, the two releases can be bought together as one very, very strong digital download. Oh, and the London gig was my first ever date with my girlfriend. I told you I had a vested interest; I was absolutely desperate to love this album.
So here goes my attempt at an objective review.
On the surface, ‘Everything Touching’ bombards and slams the listener with all the sonic might that a three piece with turned-up-to-eleven amplifiers could possibly muster. This unabashed ferocity is immediately visible on opener, ‘T=0’, whose crunching riff runs through the whole three and a half minutes courtesy of some trademark Tall Ships loop pedal play. There are subtle yet infectiously catchy vocal melodies underneath the racket, however, and the track grows to a delightfully rousing finale as a result. This all bleeds straight into ‘Best Ever’, where guitars continue to assault with all six strings and drums crash like cars in a tsunami. It’s at this juncture, however, where things all starts to get a little hazy, ‘Phosphorescence’ and ‘Oscar’ pass by with surprisingly little impact.
Two previously recorded EP tracks receive overhauls to step in line with the overall tone of the album. ‘Ode to Ancestors’, though probably the weakest of any of their pre-album songs, now assumes a pleasant electronica. Debut EP opener ‘Books’ also features towards the tail end of the record, preceded by extended intro track ‘Send News’. The track’s new iteration is a grown up affair – gone are the kooky rave synth lines, replaced by engorged pianos and choral sweeps. The production (as with the rest of the album) is undeniably lovely, but the end result actually ends up sounding a little flat and almost a little self-congratulatory, like the victory lap of someone who’s forgotten why they were so good in the first place. And this underlines my primary concern with ‘Everything Touching’, and it’s where my objectivity can’t help but fall short. In comparison to their initial promise, one can’t help but notice a nagging absence of what made them such an exciting prospect to start with. Tall Ships’ charm came with their ability to compose and intertwine complex-yet-catchy-as-fuck melodies that allowed songs swell to giddy climaxes organically under their own steam. In a way then, it’s frustrating that they seem to leave it all until track ten, album closer ‘Murmurations’. It’s a perfect encapsulation of their winning recipe, the initially sparse layers leading through the crescendos and then to the inevitable payoff of the last two minutes – God it’s good. Indeed, it represents everything that ‘Everything Touching’ should have been all along. It’s an absolutely sensational track – it’s certainly the sort of song that I was waiting to hear on my first listen through. If anything it doesn’t last long enough, which is impressive for a track whose minute count nearly broaches double figures.
Please don’t get me wrong – this is a strong album, and it’s delivered by one of the best small live bands in the UK today, who deserve to be widely recognised as such. I just can’t help but wonder if this is going to be the record that’s going to prove it to the wider audience that they warrant.
Tall Ships - Everything Touching
Out of 10: 7/10
Follow / [FACEBOOK]
Listen / [SOUNDCLOUD]
Other / [OFFICIAL SITE]
So here goes my attempt at an objective review.
On the surface, ‘Everything Touching’ bombards and slams the listener with all the sonic might that a three piece with turned-up-to-eleven amplifiers could possibly muster. This unabashed ferocity is immediately visible on opener, ‘T=0’, whose crunching riff runs through the whole three and a half minutes courtesy of some trademark Tall Ships loop pedal play. There are subtle yet infectiously catchy vocal melodies underneath the racket, however, and the track grows to a delightfully rousing finale as a result. This all bleeds straight into ‘Best Ever’, where guitars continue to assault with all six strings and drums crash like cars in a tsunami. It’s at this juncture, however, where things all starts to get a little hazy, ‘Phosphorescence’ and ‘Oscar’ pass by with surprisingly little impact.
Two previously recorded EP tracks receive overhauls to step in line with the overall tone of the album. ‘Ode to Ancestors’, though probably the weakest of any of their pre-album songs, now assumes a pleasant electronica. Debut EP opener ‘Books’ also features towards the tail end of the record, preceded by extended intro track ‘Send News’. The track’s new iteration is a grown up affair – gone are the kooky rave synth lines, replaced by engorged pianos and choral sweeps. The production (as with the rest of the album) is undeniably lovely, but the end result actually ends up sounding a little flat and almost a little self-congratulatory, like the victory lap of someone who’s forgotten why they were so good in the first place. And this underlines my primary concern with ‘Everything Touching’, and it’s where my objectivity can’t help but fall short. In comparison to their initial promise, one can’t help but notice a nagging absence of what made them such an exciting prospect to start with. Tall Ships’ charm came with their ability to compose and intertwine complex-yet-catchy-as-fuck melodies that allowed songs swell to giddy climaxes organically under their own steam. In a way then, it’s frustrating that they seem to leave it all until track ten, album closer ‘Murmurations’. It’s a perfect encapsulation of their winning recipe, the initially sparse layers leading through the crescendos and then to the inevitable payoff of the last two minutes – God it’s good. Indeed, it represents everything that ‘Everything Touching’ should have been all along. It’s an absolutely sensational track – it’s certainly the sort of song that I was waiting to hear on my first listen through. If anything it doesn’t last long enough, which is impressive for a track whose minute count nearly broaches double figures.
Please don’t get me wrong – this is a strong album, and it’s delivered by one of the best small live bands in the UK today, who deserve to be widely recognised as such. I just can’t help but wonder if this is going to be the record that’s going to prove it to the wider audience that they warrant.
Tall Ships - Everything Touching
Out of 10: 7/10
Follow / [FACEBOOK]
Listen / [SOUNDCLOUD]
Other / [OFFICIAL SITE]
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